62 Chapter 8: Vacation Ends, a New Phase Begins

It had been a quick week since Joshua had met with his teachers and discussed what they would be doing to train him in the future. Over the time since then he had spent most of it with his friends and family. He would spend loads of time with his mother going through books from the system library that explained new ideas in the field of medicine that hadn't been thought of yet on earth. Considering there were several new factors that could affect the field of medicine going forward it wasn't all that surprising that they were able to find so many new an interesting ways to use certain jobs or abilities from specific soul beast to help others against illness that had more long term effects. Even though humans would become far more resistant to old illnesses such as cancer or AIDs there were several new issues that can become a problem in the future if not handled properly. It came as no surprise that his mother was taking well to learning all of this so quickly considering how worried she would be for her daughter and son going out into this new world in the future.

His little sister Amy was spending a lot less time sparring and training over the week with him and his father because of her new friendship with Naomi. The two girls ended up spending a lot of time together and by the end of the week Joshua wasn't too surprised when he saw Naomi and Nathan at the door visiting them on an almost daily basis. Their sisters would go off and talk to one another while Joshua kept his promise and dragged Nathan upstairs to the gym and would train him a bit to get the kid into better shape. Even though Nathan would get a supporter job going forward it still wasn't going to hurt to help the kid learn how to defend himself in a pinch.

Of course with his little sister spending less time with their father in sparing practice Joshua had to be the one to take the fall for it. He had spent a lot of his time in the gym with his father beating the crap out of each other till one of them had to give up. Although Joshua was winning most of the time his father would still be able to get Joshua in a surprise hold every now and then causing them to have to go for another round sense his father wanted him to be the best in all regards of fighting. While their mother was worried about their safety Joshua's father was harder than ever on the two of them making sure they could protect themselves when they both finally stepped into the ring for phase two.

He had also spent a lot of time with the other parents of his close friends. Whether they went out to lunch together or just spent time together in the afternoons discussing their plans they all seemed to be getting ready for their future gym business. Earlier Thoren and his two new teachers had explained to him that it was impossible for a level one to leave the system and go explore the planet sense the system wouldn't allow it. You had to reach level ten before heading down and the only people that would be at that level when the evolution had stopped would be the women who had fought sub-boss level monsters during the first phase. This meant that several people would have to go through training to get their levels up before they could even go down to earth and start their exploration.

According to Thoren this was another way the system was giving those who had done the most to complete the first phase a head start. Although the men who were in the top rankers like Joshua would still have to reach level ten before they could go down, with their rewards they would apparently have far better teachers that are there specifically for them to help them quickly through the training. It would take anywhere between three to six months to reach level ten in the safe environment of the system and you couldn't consider your training complete until you reached level ten, got a job class, and had awakened your soul beast completely.

With all of these facts being a reality Laura, Madalyn, and Natalie were going to get a huge head start, but they would also have very few people to join them in their expeditions. That's why Joshua gave them the idea of sticking together and recruiting other people to help them out early on. When they had a big enough group then they could split up and start working on creating their own guilds in Laura and Madalyn's cases. Natalie could just stick with them until a government organized group came into the picture if she wanted.

One thing Joshua did learn was that everyone in their little group was able to gain an instructor going forward. For the girls it was someone who was either in the same job class as them or in a job that was a more advanced version of the one they had at the moment. The guys on the other hand got instructors in the jobs that they were aiming for in the future. This would help them all out greatly going forward. The guys would have someone to help with their training over the next few months while the girls had someone to teach them the finer details of their job so that they would perform better in the field.

In the end they were all fairly satisfied with the situation and had one last get together before the vacation would end. Now after saying their goodbyes Joshua found himself at home late at night with his family already asleep and his nerves keeping him awake for the crazy days ahead. It was at midnight when something unusual finally occurred and every ranker that was connected to the system was given a long message that explained how things were going to proceed in the second phase.

[Hello all rankers. Some of you will be moving on to the second phase right away while others will be staying back for training, but nonetheless all of you have earned the right to be privy to certain information ahead of time. The second phase will start with the exploration of your home planet. Over the next ten years all combat personal are expected to make strides in retaking your home world. The first part of the second phase will end after ten years or after the first city is retaken.]

Joshua was shocked at this statement. They expected them to become strong enough to take down one of those city destroying monsters within a span of ten years. The fact the system at least gave the option of the ten year window showed it wasn't mandatory to kill a city level boss within the time frame, but it wouldn't have mentioned it in the first place if it wasn't an important fact to begin with. The likely hood it would mean something great in the future was high. Joshua put it on the list of things to ask Thoren about next time they meet to discuss things and continued to listen to the automated voice of the system.

[Tomorrow several systems will be unlocked for use going forward. This will include a party system that will allow groups to work together and take down beast or monsters in order to gain experience together. This party system will also allow you to see the condition of others in your group and will warn you if party members are in danger. Other systems that will be enabled will include the shop system where you can purchase equipment and goods that will be helpful in the fight ahead. The storage system that will allow people to store items gear or treasure found on their expeditions. The communication system that will allow people to converse in different ways over long distance with accepting members or groups.]

Joshua mentally nodded at all of the essential systems that were clearly meant to make things easier on the combat personal that would have no means of carrying everything back that they found. The party system was also clearer now unlike before when Nathan and Joshua had to figure it out themselves.

[Lastly with the vacation weeks ending the system world will expand allowing several necessary districts to open up. More residential districts will be added with well-furnished homes for purchase. Several city areas will be opened for access with shopping districts included. Schools and learning districts will be opened. Early years will be free up until the age of seventeen, but any further learning will be charged with system money. Money can be earned from either selling items from exploration runs or can be gained from doing jobs for the system. It must be known that no violence will be allowed in the hub world, any bad intentions will be met with deadly force and grave repercussions for all involved. More system uses will be unlocked going forward as your species proceeds through the second phase. Your reward for placement in the first phase shall appear at the end of this message. Good luck moving forward in the Risen World System.]

The message came to an end and Joshua thought over all the things he learned. Clearly the system was creating a hub world for people to live in while anyone willing could fight to take back their home in the battles ahead. The fact that no violence was allowed against one another in the hub world was a great thing, but it was clear that wasn't the same when it came to back on earth. While Joshua was thinking over things another smaller message appeared in front of him causing him to leave his thoughts behind.

[Congratulations on getting the first rank in the first phase. You have been rewarded with a ten year pass to full access to all learning centers and training grounds. You have also been rewarded with one million system points that can be used in the system shop going forward. Use these points wisely they are equivalent to the points from taking down a boss class monster.]

Joshua smiled at the message sense he knew going forward boss class monsters would be far harder to kill then the big guy from back in town. Now that he had so many points he was looking forward to seeing what he could get with them in the future, but decided to wait until after he finished his training to use any of them. The pass to use the training grounds and learning centers would also be extremely useful for him for the next ten years. Before Joshua could think about anything else a loud yawn escaped his mouth making him realize how late it was. He would have to get up early in the morning to meet up with his teachers and go with them to start his training, He would still be able to come home to spend time with his family every now and then, but most of his time for the foreseeable future would be spent learning and training.

The next morning Joshua had packed a bag with some clothes and training gear he felt comfortable with before saying good bye to his parents and heading out to see off the girls. When he got to the location they had sent direction to him for them to meet up at he saw the three of them together with a few other people he didn't know as well. They were all women signifying that they must have all been planning to go down to earth for exploration. Laura, Madalyn, and Natalie split off from the rest and walked over towards him.

"I see you guys got some new friends to help you out." Joshua said with a smile.

"Feeling Jealous?" Madalyn said teasingly as she poked his arm.

"Nah, I'm actually glad. I would hate to hear one of you guys ended up dying because you tried to do everything on your own." Joshua replied.

"Will make sure to watch each other's backs." Natalie said with a smile.

"You just make sure not to fall too far behind us." Laura said causing everyone to look towards her. "I expect you to catch up to us quickly after you finish training otherwise that first ranking won't mean anything."

"Don't worry about that. You three are just getting a head start. I'll catch up in no time." Joshua said before giving each of the girls a hug. Even Laura didn't mind the hug and simply smiled after they finished. Before they could continue their conversation a large portal seemed to open up in front of the group that had been waiting. On the other side Joshua could see a plain filed with grass and a wide open area that was probably a simple starting ground for them to go to. "Well looks like your gate is here. I wish you all the best of luck and try to keep in touch."

The three girls nodded before heading over towards the others that were starting to head for the gate. They waived to him as they passed through and he turned around and punched in a few numbers into the system to open a new door for him to pass through. He picked up his bag and smiled as he pulled on the handle and made his way through. It was time for some training.